The present invention is directed to a system for supporting a document revision process.
There has been a demand to keep document revision histories for future use. Conventionally, revision histories have been kept in the form of paper documents by simply jotting down changes directly onto the documents, or a copy of a revised document has been made and kept on a generation-by-generation basis, or a revised document file for each generation has been saved using a file function of a word processor and the like. As a more advanced means of keeping document revision histories, a technique for retaining a differential between an original document and a revised document has been employed. One of the most prevalently used means at present is a revision record function and format for saving revision histories provided by application software Microsoft Word®.
The aforementioned conventional means of keeping revision histories are in some ways inconvenient. For example, when keeping revision histories in the form of paper documents, not only is proper maintenance of such paper documents difficult but also substantial storage space is needed. Even with the use of electronic files of word processors and the like, there is a limit to what one can do to control document revision histories, such as recording the generation of several revisions at an optional time to compare the same with the other recorded generation of revisions, retrieving a document of a previous generation to replace a document of the current generation or making further changes to a revision of a previous generation. Thus, the conventional means is inadequate and cannot meet the need for strict control of revision histories in revising laws, ordinances and special documents such as legal documents, patent specifications, industrial codes, documents relating to financial matters, specifications, instruction and other manuals, office regulations, bylaws, and the like. In other words, it requires the following functions that cannot be implemented by the conventional means to meet the aforementioned needs:    1) To automatically generate from a revision record a “revision description” that specifically describes the contents of a revision made at certain point in time;    2) To selectively cancel a specific revision among multiple revisions that are intricately related to one another;    3) To concurrently perform a multiplicity of revision operations on the same document;    4) To control multiple revisions independently of one another and selectively reflect the contents of the revisions in the original document;    5) To automatically generate a cross reference table comparing a document before a revision with the document after the revision; and    6) To inspect the content of an optional revision in a document.
The above functions are essential especially when revising laws and ordinances and the like, and the conventionally available technique not only requires enormous time and manpower but is also prone to errors.